The Zen Zone Blog

David Ferrers

3, January 2012

The Most Useful NLP Techniques No.3 – Modeling

Milton Erickson - image via Wikipedia

Modeling was the first of the NLP techniques developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. The basic idea is to locate another person who possesses a skill that you would like to have and then ask, “how do they do that?”

By breaking down the elements of what they do you are then in a position to be able to replicate those skills in your own behaviour.

Bandler and Grinder started by studying the work of leading healers such as Virginia Satir and Milton Erickson. They were looking for the behavioural differences between these great healers and others who were less successful. Through these studies they became aware of the power of the unconscious mind and how it affects our everyday behaviour. They learned that the unconscious mind can be re-programmed so that our behaviour can be changed.

In organisations modeling can be used to discover what top performers do that is different from their colleagues and to transfer those skills to everyone else. When you do this successfully you can raise the overall level of performance.

The ability of top performers is usually the result of their unique blend of feelings, thoughts, beliefs, values and self-image. It therefore essential to identify the thinking strategies and other ‘intangibles’ that make top managers outstanding.

To learn more about NLP techniques and in particular about NLP modeling please read this article about NLP modelling or contact me .